That Which We Call A Rose
by goldensnitch18
Summary: A series of One Shots and Drabbles about Scorpius Malfoy, Rose Weasley, and next gen goodness. See each chapter for rating, summary, and anything else you might need to know.
1. Dragon Pox & Firewhiskey

**Story: Dragon Pox and Firewhiskey**

 **Synopsis: Rose and Scorpius had always been friends, but that all changed when Firewhiskey got involved at Albus' birthday party. Now they are stuck at work together during the worst Dragon Pox outbreak in living memory and neither of them know what to say or how to act.**

 **Rating: M**

 **Pairing: Scorpius/Rose**

 **Disclaimer: I am not profiting from this story. Anything you recognize belongs to the great and mighty JKR.**

 **Dragon Pox and Firewhiskey**

It was the worst case of Dragon Pox St. Mungo's had seen in living memory. Witches, Wizards, their children, and their grandchildren were flocking to the hospital with the disease and beds were filling quickly. The second floor had capped out and now patients were being placed on other floors while all their best efforts were made to stop the spread. Rose Weasley hadn't seen her own bed in five, or maybe six, nights. Instead, she had been cat napping in the rooms the hospital kept for the Training Healers who had a tendency to live in the Hospital. Rose hadn't spent so much time there since her own training had ended and she had become a full Healer. Usually, she worked on the fourth floor exclusively with Spell Damage, but they had been pulling in all the best to try to help. She wasn't really doing any good and now she was losing her desire to be of assistance. Instead, she longed for a bit of time off and a night out with her friends without a single pox in sight.

As she washed her face in the sink of the bathroom, Rose took in the dark circles around her blue eyes and the frizz popping out from her bun. Her hair was usually more manageable that her mother's, but when she didn't take the time to take care of it, the mop could become downright unruly. She tried to squash it down with her hand, but it popped back out, laughing at her. She could almost feel the delicious pressure of her own shower, smell the sweet aroma of her own shampoo, feel the creamy soft delight of her own wash. Here at the hospital, they had freezing showers and soap that smelled like her Great Auntie Muriel's house had before she had died. Rose shuddered at the thought and dried her hands, before walking out into the hall.

"Rose." She was accosted at once. "Room three wants more pain potion, five is insisting on going home, and six wants to be put back on solids." The woman, a training healer, waved her wand and the information for the three patients floated in the air in front of Rose.

"I'll get pain potion and check on everyone now. Mr. Gurdy is NOT going home. I'll tie him to the bed myself." She waved her own wand, making the words vanish and the training healer nodded and walked away, no doubt to inform Mr. Gurdy, who had been in room five for a week now, that no, he still wasn't allowed to go home. Honestly, Rose was quite impressed with the man's progress. One hundred and eighteen-year-old wizards weren't known for handling the pox very well, but he had managed to seem to get better and still held up his crotchety attitude through it all.

Rose touched her wand to the door of the potions closet and it allowed her to enter. She closed it behind her and smiled. The potions rooms were her favorite. Each station held cauldrons, some bubbling with potions in progress and others empty. The racks next to each station held completed vials. Rose loved her days on Potions making. It was one of her favorite subjects at Hogwarts, and she still enjoyed the thrill of a perfect brew now as a Healer.

She made her way over to the Pain Potions and pulled several different potencies for her patients who were all at various stages of the disease. She had just finished shrinking them and placing them in her potions bag when the door to the room opened. She turned to greet the Healer who had walked in and felt a lump rise in her throat. The wizard standing there shutting the door behind him was tall and young and blonde. He looked nearly as tired as she felt, but he still managed a smile. "Hello, Rose," he told her and she tried to smile, but it probably came out as a grimace.

"Hey, Scorpius." Her voice was definitely off. She hadn't had enough sleep to play this game. She needed rest to pretend like nothing had happened like he was just Al's best mate and life was all chocolate frogs and butterbeer.

"How is it going?" He walked over to the rack she had pulled her potions from and began to work on his own, shrinking them and placing them in his Potions case.

"Pretty terrible all around, I think," she said honestly. Scorpius wasn't usually on Magical Bugs and Diseases either. He was normally on the third floor with Potions and Plant Poisonings. They had been Potions partners in their last two years at Hogwarts once Al had given the subject up after O.W.L.S. Scorpius and Rose had been the best in their year, and, somehow, she had managed to be his friend like she always had and not make an idiot of herself at all even though she had started to feel like maybe she was possibly sort of feeling something more than friendly towards him during their seventh year. That had pretty much gone away once they had started their Healer training. She still saw him pretty often between work at the Hospital and their friends, but they had both started dating and over the years those feelings had faded, and she had once again been just his friend.

Two weeks ago, this had changed. It had been Al's birthday, and they both had to be there of course. Scorpius was Al's best friend, and Rose was his favorite cousin. They had both taken the night off work and joked about how ridiculous it was that Al wanted to spend his twenty-fifth birthday getting smashed like they were kids again just out of Hogwarts and didn't all have real jobs to get to. Al was a journalist for the Daily Prophet, but he covered Quidditch mostly and he had never really gotten around to setting a normal schedule.

The party had been held at Al's house and his wife, Allison, who happened to be a Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies, had pulled out all the stops for the event. Rose had seen people that night that she hadn't seen since she left Hogwarts, some of which she would have been just fine not seeing again. She had stuck with her best friend, Hannah, and her cousin, Lily, at the beginning of the night. Hannah was dating James, and he made sure that their cups were always full and even convinced them to dance at some point, which Rose had since decided was a terrible idea. Sometime after midnight, Hannah had vanished with James, and Lily had kissed her goodnight because she had work the next day. Rose wandered out of the house in search of air. Albus would never have forgiven her if she had left already, but she was starting to desire the comfort of her bed and the liquor running through her veins was making her tired.

Her feet carried her down to the garden Allison tended, mostly without success, and she sat down on the bench. She slipped off her cardigan and lay it in her lap, enjoying the feel of the cool breeze on her warm skin.

"Can I sit with you?" He made her jump and laugh and she scooted over, making space for him.

"Are you as ready to go home as I am?" he asked with a grin, that silly, schoolboy grin, and she had reached out and touched it with her finger, without really caring or thinking about what it was that she was doing.

"I used to love this grin," she admitted, her own smile soft across her lips. Her tongue poked out to wet them.

"Oh?" he asked, surprised.

"Yes." She nodded and let her finger fall down his chin before it fell to rest in her lap. She sighed softly, and her head moved over to rest on his shoulder. "I'm tired."

Scorpius chuckled, and put an arm around her back, lying back to let her get comfortable against him. "Al would kill us if we left." She sunk further into him, and her face turned back to his, which was now much closer. She felt those tickles, those little urgings deep in her stomach that she used to feel so long ago when they would reach for the same ingredient or lean into a potion at the same time, and she found that she didn't want to push them back down. She wanted to kiss him, and she was a grown woman. She could kiss any man she liked.

Rose leaned in, closing the last few inches between them and let her lips find his in a rush of heat. At first, he didn't respond, and she felt a tremor of terror slide down her back, but then she felt the hand at her back tighten against her skin and his lips moved against hers, hungry. Her hand reached to grasp his hair as her body moved to straddle him, her mind cloudy and clear at the same time. She felt her heart racing in her chest as her dress slid up her thighs much higher than was decent and she rocked against his body underneath her as her tongue dove forward to taste him.

Scorpius moved his hand from her back to cup her breast and the other slid down to her thigh, helping to push the fabric up. She delighted in the feel of his fingers on her skin. It felt so damn good, better than she ever imagined. There was firewhiskey on his mouth and she was fairly sure that it was the best firewhiskey she had ever tasted. She moaned softly against him as his tongue danced around hers, and his hand slid up the side of her hip under her dress. There was very little of the garment reaching below her waist now and she could feel his reaction to her kiss growing below her. He rolled his hips up against her knickers and her mouth pulled back from his to gasp. She clung to his neck as heat spread through her, and his mouth used the break in their kiss to sample her skin. She felt his teeth graze the soft skin at the place where her neck and shoulder met, and she felt her eyes roll shut as her head titled back.

Her hands moved down his body of their own accord, stopping at his trousers to pull at the button there and free him. Her hand wrapped around his length, and he murmured, "Fuck," against her neck as his fingers dug into the soft skin of her arse. Rose rocked her hips up and placed them over him, positioning her body at his tip, pulling aside the thin fabric of her knickers easily before sinking down on him.

"Oh, fuck." It was her turn to curse as he filled her, perfectly and she sat still on top of him, enjoying the sensation of him inside her.

"Don't tease me." He growled into her ear, and she smiled against his cheek. He was kneading the skin of her arse, urging it to move as his other hand reached down to free a nipple that was already halfway out of her dress. As his mouth claimed its prize, Rose began to move, pulling back up and then sliding down. She was painfully slow at first, delighting in the frustration she could feel in him, but then she couldn't push her own lust away any longer. She began to bounce freely on top of him as he feasted on her breast, leaving what would surely be red and purple bruises on her skin.

Somewhere in the very back of her mind, some part of her was thinking logically, but the vast majority of her mind, the parts coated with liquid courage, just wanted to be here, enjoying this moment, chasing her release on top of him. As his thumb found her clit, Rose bit down on Scorpius' shoulder to keep herself from shouting his name. Her body was convulsing now, so close to that mounting explosion. Beneath her Scorpius was breathing heavy, meeting her bouncing hips with thrusts and grunts, though she could tell he was trying to keep them down as well. His jaw was clenched and his body tense. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, Rose." He moaned her name softly as waves of pleasure crashed against her, rocking her, shaking her, causing her to clench around him. She collapsed on top of him, her body slack, her chin resting on his shoulder as she tried to catch her breath. It slowly returned to a calm state, heartbeat slowed and Scorpius was still beneath her.

"Rose?" She heard her name shouted from the house and slid out of Scorpius' lap. They both moved quickly, groped at their wands, cast cleaning charms, fixed hair, and pulled clothes in place. Al was moving towards them somewhere unseen in the darkness. Just as Rose had finished smoothing her dress and Scorpius had struck a relaxed pose on the bench, Al turned the corner and became visible. "What're you two doing out here?" he groaned. "It's my birthday! Come and eat cake!" He swung an arm around Rose's shoulders haphazardly and leaned in to kiss his cousin's cheek. He led her back to the house as Scorpius followed behind them. The appearance of Al and the rush to put herself back together had sobered her quicker than any sobering potion she had ever taken. Her mind was racing as Allie handed her a piece of cake and a shot of firewhiskey. She looked over at Scorpius and saw him throw back his head with Al, downing the liquid. She followed his lead, trying to drown away her doubts with a drink that only made her think about the taste of him on her lips.

Two weeks later in the Potions closet, Scorpius was smiling as if nothing had ever happened and she was trying to act like that was totally fine with her. In reality, she wasn't really sure why it wasn't. Before Al's birthday, she had been perfectly content with their friendship. She was young and free. She dated when she felt like it and thoroughly enjoyed her carefree lifestyle that allowed her to work odd hours and pull extra shifts when she felt like it. She and Scorpius both often brought dates to group events and it had never really bothered her before, so why was everything suddenly so different?

After the incident at Al's birthday, she couldn't help but remember his hands on her skin and the way he had brought her over the edge with his thumb. She could hear her name on his lips and taste firewhiskey on her own. "Well," she told him politely, "I'll see you. Good luck with your patients."

"You too, hope this is over soon," he responded as she strode across the room and pushed the door open, leaving him behind her as her cheeks flushed from the memories racing through her mind.

XXX

Once Rose had left the room, Scorpius leaned his head against the cool metal of the storage rack. "Bloody fuck," he mumbled under his breath. Everything had been turned upside down at Al's party. He had never imagined that night ever could have ended up the way it had. Even in the midst of their drunken shag it had seemed more like a dream than reality, and fuck if it hadn't been something straight out of one of his Hogwarts fantasies about her. Rose had always been beautiful and a little wild and he'd always found that arousing, especially at seventeen. Years of friendship dampened any hopes he ever had of shagging her. He knew that wouldn't end well. It never did when friends shagged, and, now, here he was living the fake nice bullshit while he dreamed about shoving her up against the wall of the Potions closet to fuck her again, and she thought Merlin knew what about him. Surely she was embarrassed, ashamed, horrified, and who knew what else. It had been damn good, so he knew she wasn't disappointed at least, but she clearly regretted it ever happened.

Scorpius leaned back from the rack, put his potions case in his pocket, and steeled his face before walking out of the room. He headed for his rooms, trying to find something to hold on to that would ground him back to his work. Lack of sleep wasn't helping anything. He hadn't been home for nearly a week and sleeping in thirty-minute intervals wasn't going to last forever, no matter how much pepper up he swallowed. "SCOOOOOOOORPIUSSSSSSSSS." He heard the roar, followed a moment later by a second roaring of his name, and he couldn't help but grin. Inside the room, two identical boys were fidgeting in two beds as their mother shook her head between them. She set down her book and smiled up at him.

"Hello, Scorpius."

"Hey, Lydia."

"They are losing their minds."

Scorpius looked at one spotted boy and then the other. They were both wiggling, several of their spots were clearly agitated. "If you two don't calm down, I'm going to have to give you a sleeping draught," he told them sternly. "The potions we are giving you will heal you and turn you back the right color, but only if you rest and give them a chance to work. Otherwise, you could stay green forever." This was a bit of a stretch. The dragon pox cure had been perfected nearly twenty years ago and the potions should work no matter how active the twins decided to be, but Lydia was an old friend of his from school. She had graduated two years ahead of him and her four-year-old boys were little dragons themselves even without Dragon Pox. At his words, both boys fell still, staring intently at him with big eyes.

"I don't want to be green forever, Mum," one of them whined.

"Me neither," the other agreed.

"Then you listen to Healer Malfoy!" she told them sharply, and Scorpius tried to look sternly at the boys who had the decency to seem abashed.

"Do they seem to be in any pain?"

"I think they are okay, their potions seem to be working a little too well." She laughed and Scorpius apologized for the efficiency of the pain potions while he waved his wand over each boy, in turn, checking their status. "They are both responding great. Two more days here and then we'll send them home with a strict regimen to continue for two weeks. It's the home stretch, Lyd."

"Thanks, Scor."

"No problem." He patted her hand and left the boys behind.

XXX

Six hours later, Scorpius shut the door of a small room behind him. It was dark and he didn't bother to turn on the light. He fumbled forward in the darkness and fell onto the small bed. His head hit the pillow, his arms wrapped around it, and he was asleep in minutes.

He had no idea how long he had been able to sleep before the movement of someone hitting the bed woke him followed by a gasp. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry."

Rose.

In his delirium, he reached out and grabbed her hand as she tried to move away from the bed. His eyes adjusted slowly to the darkness and her outline came into focus. "Stay," he told her gruffly.

"I …" her head turned to the door and then back to him. "I don't know …"

He pulled on her hand, causing her to move back towards the bed. "We both need sleep. Just stay." He couldn't make out her face, but he knew from many hours spent with her that she was biting her lip, thinking over the many reasons not to. Scorpius pushed himself up on the bed and moved towards her, scooting his knees forward. She tried to take a step back, but he stopped her. "Do you want to stay with me?" His voice was heavy from exhaustion, but he pulled her in anyway, his arms around her waist. He leaned forward in the sweet darkness and was so grateful for its presence. It was so much easier to talk to her, to ask her that question, and to wait for her answer when he couldn't see her face. His forehead met hers softly, and he felt her breath against his mouth. "Rose?"

"Yes." The word escaped her mouth in a whisper, barely audible even though mere inches separated them.

He pushed his lips against hers, and she fell softly into him, her body letting him support her. He moved his hands gently up her body to cup her face. Her tongue slid across his mouth, parting his lips. He moaned into her mouth against his will.

"Scor," she sighed softly as their lips parted. He moved his arms around her again and twisted her down to the soft mattress. His body fell with hers as his mouth claimed her neck, sucking softly at her tender skin. Rose's hands wrapped around his neck and up to clench his hair in her fingers. She pulled him up to her, and he lost himself in the feel of her tongue against his lips. He let out a soft moan of frustration, too tired to hold back, and his tongue met hers, tasting her. Her body was pressing up into him, and he wanted to feel every inch of her, to memorize her skin, to have her delirious with desire underneath him as he pumped into her, but they both needed sleep. They needed it more than anything else right now, so he forced himself to pull back from her. "We need sleep," he croaked out, and she sighed, frustration huffing against his mouth.

"Yeah," she agreed, reluctantly as he leaned down to pull the thin blanket over them both. She turned into him, and he wrapped an arm around her waist before he closed his eyes. She moved closer, her head resting against his chest and his chin against the top of her head. He tried not to think about what this meant so that he could get more sleep before being called away.

XXX

Five days later, Rose was finally able to use her own shower again. Most of her patients had gone home, and the few she had left were reassigned for the day so she could catch up on some real sleep before she headed back in for the night shift. The epidemic wasn't over, but they seemed to finally be getting ahead of it and were sending home more patients than they were gaining.

She had a stack of post on the counter, but it would have to wait. The only things she cared about today were her hot shower, food, and her bed. She had satisfied her need for the shower, dried her hair with her wand, and wandered into her kitchen to find something that might be salvageable. She was picking through biscuits in her cupboard when someone knocked on her front door.

Rose stared over at it. She didn't want to deal with friends or family. She wanted to eat something and go to sleep. She wanted to be left alone for these few precious hours that were just hers before she had to floo back to St. Mungo's and would get stuck there for who knew how long again, so she stood there, silent.

A few minutes passed with her standing there, afraid that even her breathing was too loud, and then the knock came again. This time, it was accompanied by her name. "Rose?" She took a step towards the door without thinking and then stopped.

Did she want to see him?

Did she want to talk to him?

Scorpius had pulled her into him, kissed her, made her want to stay with him, and then when she had awoke he was gone. She had only seen him from afar a few times over the last few days.

He didn't talk to her.

He didn't look at her.

He gave no sign at all that she was anything to him.

Except … now he was knocking at her door.

She stepped forward, closing the space between her and the door quickly and pulled it open.

"Rose," he said again, seemingly surprised that she had actually opened the door.

"Did you need something?" she asked, trying not to sound like she wanted him to need something. She didn't need him. She didn't even know how she really felt about him.

"I just … I thought …" Scorpius ran a hand through his blond hair and shifted his eyes from hers to her door and down to her bare feet. "We could talk maybe."

"About what?" She didn't move to open the door. She didn't give him an inch. He'd left her alone. He made her feel like he wanted her. He gave her hope that he had feelings that were more than just about their friendship. He made her body feel like it was on fire. Then he slept next to her and left her and didn't say anything about it for five damn days. They were in the same building for five days and he hadn't spoken to her once.

"I … Rose, come on." He looked back at her and took a step in towards her. She backed up from him, not trusting her own body if he touched her. She abandoned the door, and he used the opportunity to move into the flat. She watched him shut the door behind him and turn to face her.

"What is it?" she asked, and she could hear the unease in her own voice.

"I mean … something happened."

"Seriously?"

"I don't … nothing is coming out right."

"It's fine Scorpius. You don't have to do this. I know you just … it wasn't anything."

Something flashed across his face at her words. "Really? I mean at Al's I wasn't sure but at work … that felt like …" He stopped talking, coughed nervously, and Rose felt that pull towards him again that had made her that first step towards the door. She pushed it back.

"Like what?" she asked. Her voice was low and full of emotion now. There was no containing that this conversation was hard for her.

"I can't stop thinking about you," he admitted.

Her heart clenched in her chest at his words, and she closed her eyes to try to stay grounded. "Me either," she nearly whispered, as she opened them. He was standing very close to her now. His hand was reaching out, fingers found her hair and lips found her mouth. As she felt his lips press softly against hers, his hand clenched her hair, and her body fell into his. She gripped the cloth of his shirt tightly as a soft noise escaped her against her will.

"Rose," he breathed her name again.

"Scor …"

"I just …"

"You left me alone," her words cracked as she spoke them. She hated it.

His forehead fell against hers. "I didn't want to wake you up."

"You ignored me."

"You ignore me, too."

"Yeah." She actually laughed at that. "I guess that's true."

"When this shit is over at work, go on a real date with me?"

"Yeah." She couldn't help but smile at his words.

"I guess I should let you sleep." He started to pull away, but she held him against her.

"Stay with me?" she whispered.

He kissed her again. Her body shivered as his free hand slid up her hip and pulled the fabric of her shirt up her side. His lips pulled her bottom lip into suck softly. His tongue lazily traced a circle against her mouth and darted in to taste her. Rose pushed her own hands up his chest to pull at his buttons to reveal his skin to her. She wanted to feel him against her, to taste all of him.

"Yes," he responded, needlessly.

 **A/N: This is a one-shot that I've been working on for awhile. I just happened to have time to finish it today. I hope you enjoyed this. Please leave a review and let me know what you thought! If you are looking for more Scorose check out my completed multi-chapter fic Amortentia!**

 **XOXO**

 **Meg**


	2. Weasley Sweaters

**Weasley Sweaters**

oOoOo

 **A Scorose One Shot** by **Goldensnitch18**

oOoOo

 **Rated T/M -** Discussions/Mentions of a Sexual Nature

oOoOo

 **Summary:** Rose and Scorpius are a little slow about figuring things out. Good for them they have Weasley Sweaters and their good friend Albus to mess things up for them.

oOoOo

 **Disclaimer:** I am not profiting from this story. Anything you recognize belongs to the great and mighty JKR.

oOoOo

 **Beta Magic:** Many thanks to **ErisAceso** for your time on this story. I appreciate it very much. xoxo

oOoOo

 **Dedication:** Wishing a very happy birthday to my sister in law, Hellafun. I hope that today is beautiful and that this story brings a little joy to your day.

* * *

 **Weasley Sweaters**

Rose's hand moved up to rub at the back of her neck. She had been working on this report for three days straight. Her hope had been to finish it up tonight, get it over with before the weekend, but it was fairly clear that wouldn't be happening. She let out a small groan of frustration as she rocked her head back, rolling her neck. Her body could only handle being stuck at this desk for so long. She thrived on movement, time spent moving around her lab, and despised her desk work. If it was at all possible, she would hire someone to write her reports for her. She doubted very much that her employer or the Potions Registry Board would approve of that.

She moved her fingers into her hair, rummaging around for the elastic band keeping her hair in a messy stack on top of her head. As she pulled it free, the thick, red curls tumbled down past her shoulders.

"Long day?" a deep, familiar voice asked from her door. She lifted her head to face the visitor, already aware of who it was. Scorpius Malfoy was the only man who could make her body tingle with two simple words.

"Too long. I'll be back at this Monday," she sighed, closing the folders before her.

"It will be worth it," he told her. As he spoke, he entered the room, and pushed the door shut, locking it behind him.

"You shouldn't do that," she said. "You know you shouldn't." She pushed her chair back from the desk and stood as he made his way closer to her.

"My father left hours ago." He reached out his hands, wrapping her in his arms. Scorpius' father, Draco, owned the potions company they both had worked for since leaving Hogwarts. "So did everyone else. It's eight o'clock. Have you even eaten anything?"

"I had a late lunch," Rose told him as his mouth ghosted over her lips.

"Come to my place. I'll make you something to eat, and then …" He pulled at her bottom lip with his teeth, before he kissed the swollen flesh, hard and unforgiving. Against her better judgement, Rose let her arms snake around his neck, giving as good as she was getting. Her body reacted quickly, wanting him to make good on his unsaid promise here and now.

When he finally pulled back from her, she shook her head. "I have brunch at the Potters and a dress fitting tomorrow," she told him. Her cousin, James, would be getting married in just one short month. His bride-to-be happened to be her best friend, Alice Longbottom, which meant that she was roped into nearly all of their wedding plans.

"So? Go home and get something to wear. You can use my shower in the morning. It's been two weeks." Scorpius lifted her blouse at this, his fingers making a path of shivers up her side.

"Not my fault. You were gone for a week," she insisted. He had been sent to deal with a French non-profit organization who was looking for a new potions supplier. They had submitted the bid nearly six months ago, and this had been the final step to getting it approved. Mr. Malfoy should know within the week whether or not they had landed the contract.

"I've been back for a week. You've been avoiding me." His mouth moved to her neck, sucking at her soft skin as her eyes fluttered closed. He knew every inch of her so well by now. They had been at this for nearly a year. In the beginning, it had been one night late at the office and then another a month later. Within a week, he was at her flat, pushing her against the wall of her shower. He was her drug of choice, irresistible and addictive. They had a mutually beneficial agreement - just sex, nothing more. Most of the time it was fine, but a week and a half ago, while in France, he had gone out to dinner with another woman, and Rose wasn't sure what to make of it.

Her Gran loved Scorpius as one of her own grandchildren. He and Albus had been best friends, inseparable, from their first train ride to Hogwarts. It had taken all of that first year and most of the second to convince the family that Scorpius was there to stay. When Gran had finally had him at her house in the summer after their second year, she had declared Scorpius "the most polite dear," and Rose was convinced that he had become her favorite. From then on, she made him a Weasley sweater for Christmas, sent eggs at Easter, and demanded that he join them for the holidays as often as possible. Last week at Sunday breakfast, her Gran had pulled out Witch Weekly, turned to an inside page, and handed the paper to Albus. "Who is this?" she had asked, and Rose had leaned over to see Scorpius at dinner with a beautiful woman. She was laughing as she reached her hand across the table to rest on his, and then the loop began again. Rose skimmed the article, which was a lot of guessing at her identity and his relationship status. Albus had claimed not to know the woman, and Rose had tried to ignore the feeling in the pit of her stomach.

He was dating, and he hadn't told her. They had an arrangement, and it was supposed to end immediately if either of them started seeing someone. That was why she had been avoiding him since his return. It was one thing to have sex that didn't mean anything with her cousin's single best friend. It was entirely another thing to sleep with a man that was dating other women. She would not be his other woman, the dirty little secret he kept around until that woman at dinner was ready to open her legs to him.

"Where is your girlfriend tonight?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady even as his tongue touched her skin, leaving a trail of goose pimples in its wake. His reaction was not at all what she expected. Scorpius began to chuckle against her neck before he pulled back to shake his head at her.

"I thought that might be what this was about." His fingers brushed a curl behind her ear. "She isn't my girlfriend, Rose." He smiled down at her, and she began to feel foolish for no reason at all.

"You were on a date though," she said, holding her ground outwardly even as her walls were starting to fall.

"No. I wasn't. Aimee is an old friend. My mother was born in France. She went to primary school with Aimee's mother until they moved back in time for my Aunt Daphne to start Hogwarts. My grandfather refused to let them attend Beauxbatons. It was nothing." He was still smiling, and she was still feeling foolish.

"It looked like something," she said, but there was no real intent behind the words.

Scorpius leaned down, claiming her lips again, kissing her softly this time. "I promise, if it was something, I would tell you."

"Okay," she acquiesced.

"Come home with me," he demanded quietly, letting his voice show her the need that her own body mirrored.

"I'll have to go home and grab some things," she told him, already giving in to her desire. They hadn't gone two whole weeks without sex in months, maybe not since that second time when he had set a silencing charm in his office and buried himself inside of her right there on his desk without removing any of their clothes. They had been stupid, denying and testing their sexual attraction while still working together. It had bubbled at the surface until they couldn't handle it any more.

"Hurry," he breathed into her ear, and then he left her to pack up, and she was alone in her office wondering why she was still doing this incredibly stupid thing with him of all people. It wasn't bad enough that he was her cousin's best friend and practically family, he was also the son of her boss, Draco Malfoy. Mr. Malfoy just happened to be the man who had turned his family's near ruin into the most profitable and philanthropic potions company in Britain. She admired him, and she had been trying to impress him each and every day of the past seven years. She was sure that being caught sleeping with his son would not impress him in the slightest, yet she couldn't stop herself. The one requirement she had made of Scorpius after those stupid and reckless two times at work was that they would never have sex in the office again.

The first couple months they would meet at his flat, or hers, and afterwards the other would leave. The moments before were full of energy, filled with tension so thick they could barely breathe. The moments after were filled with quick fumbling and awkward silence as one of them tried to leave without offending the other. The first time that she slept over at his flat was a mistake. It had been incredibly late after a long day at work. She had just meant to rest for a minute before climbing out of his bed to Floo home, but the next morning she woke tangled in his sheets. The world hadn't ended, and he had made her breakfast. She didn't cook, so that was a welcome bonus in her eyes. From that time forward, they hadn't been quite as worried about leaving as quickly as possible, and more often than not, ended up spending the night together. Morning sex with Scorpius had become nearly as appealing as late night sex with him.

Rose let out a long sigh, brushed at her face with her hand, trying to rub away the odd sensation that she hadn't been able to shake since she had seen that image in Witch Weekly. She moved back towards her chair to pack up her things to leave.

XXX

The next morning, Rose woke slowly, snuggling her body closer to the warmth of Scorpius. As he woke, she enjoyed the sensation of his fingers trailing across her skin. She let out a sleepy sigh against his chest, and his lips fell to the top of her head to kiss her. She let her own lips linger on his skin, kissing him softly as well. "You want me to make you something to eat?" he asked.

She groaned, remembering that she was supposed to be at brunch later this morning. "No. I'll just get in the shower."

"You want company?" he asked, letting his fingers slide down the side of her breast. She let out a soft breath.

"Better not," she turned away from him, and reached for her wand. His clock sat behind it, innocently ticking the seconds away. "Is this right?" she asked, her stomach dropping.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Scorpius asked, his hand resting gently on her arm.

"Fuck." She bolted from his touch and out of the bed. She was completely naked, but she picked through the mess of clothes on his floor, dressing as quickly as possible. "Fuck, fuck fuck," she chanted as she bounced, working on the snap of the jeans she had changed into last night.

"Rose?" Scorpius asked uneasily, watching her pull on her t-shirt.

"I'm supposed to be there already. I'll just tell them I overslept and need a shower. Shit. Fuck. Alice is going to fire me. She really should. I'm shit at this wedding bullshit." She had her bag over her shoulder as she grabbed her sweater off the ground. She bolted over to the bed to kiss him one last time. "See you later," she told him, and he tried not to laugh as she ran out the door to his Floo while pulling her sweater over her head.

XXX

Albus was sitting on the sofa with an apple in hand as she walked out of the Floo and into the Potter's sitting room.

"Hey, Rose!" Al said happily before he bit into the fruit.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, trying not sound as flustered as she felt.

"James is making Dad and I go get fitted today also." He seemed about as excited by this as she did about the prospect of a day of trying on ludicrously expensive dresses until she found one that she would wear for a few hours and then never touch again. "Girls are in the kitchen."

"Can you tell them I overslept while I use the shower?"

"Yeah, course," he told her through his full mouth.

"Thank you," she told him, grateful that she might be able to look halfway decent before they went out in public. Ginny and Alice would probably still not be pleased that she had been late to the brunch. She shifted her bag and the dress she was holding to one hip, freeing her hand to brush through her unruly hair as she spoke.

Al swallowed, grinned, and started to say something, but the sound never became a word. He stared at her chest, and his eyebrows puckered together as his mouth fell open.

"What?" she asked, staring back at him, confused.

"What is that?" he asked, pointing at her sweater with one long finger. Rose looked down, expecting food or a hole, but the truth was so much worse. Instead of the R she was expecting, a large, perfectly knit, bronze "S" stared back up at her. _Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._

Her mind raced as she stammered incoherent noises, searching for an answer that made sense. "We were working late. I was cold," she finally told him, and he glared. His eyes squinted at her, as if they could see the truth if they only looked hard enough.

"On what?" he asked. "Didn't Scor just get back from France? I thought he was taking it easy this week." Albus knew too much for his own good, or hers certainly.

"I'm working on a proposal for my potion. He knows I hate the paperwork. He's just helping me out." She begged, prayed, pleaded that he would let this go. She didn't have the ability to focus on throwing him off the scent.

"I think he did mention you were working on something big." Albus said, seeming to reconsider his assumptions.

"Yeah, it's going to have to go before the Registry Board. They've already sent it back twice in the past three years." That part wasn't a fabrication. She had poured the last year of her life into getting this right.

"Okay, well, you look like shit. You better go shower. I'll let mum know." He rose from his chair to head towards the kitchen as she ran for the stairs, happy to get out from under his stare.

XXX

Scorpius still felt half asleep as he waited for his eggs to finish cooking. He was being lazy this morning, directing his food and pans with his wand from his seat. He had contemplated going back to sleep after Rose had left, but he had known that he was too hungry. When she had finally made it to his flat last night, he hadn't been able to persuade her to wait until after dinner, not that he'd done much protesting. Instead, they had each taken a spoon to some ice cream on his couch an hour later. She had been in his old Ravenclaw jersey and her knickers, long legs draped over his lap. He'd been a gentleman and waited until they were back in his room to pull both off to taste her again. Watching her lick ice cream from her spoon had certainly been entertaining, but it hadn't provided much in the way of nutrition.

With a flick of his wrist, he directed a plate out of the cupboard and near the pan to wait for his nearly finished eggs. As he watched the pan begin to move towards the plate, he heard the unmistakable sound of someone landing in his Floo. There were only four people permitted direct Floo access to his flat, so, unless it was Rose, or his parents had suddenly decided to start dropping in unannounced, Albus was in his flat.

Moments later, the black haired man was in his kitchen, staring at him. "Morning," Scorpius mumbled, directing toast to join his eggs before the plate moved towards him. Albus looked around the room, as if searching for something, and then moved back into the living room. Scorpius stared after him, confused for a long moment, and then slid reluctantly off the chair to follow him, leaving his food behind. It was better to humor his friend when he went a bit weird.

Albus was nowhere to be found when he made it to the living room, so he moved back into the rear of the flat, towards his room. As he stood in the door of his bedroom, Scorpius watched Albus rifle through the mess of clothes littering the floor. "What are you doing, mate?" Albus ignored him, moving deeper into the room, towards the far side of the bed. He leaned down one more time and picked up a Weasley sweater. It was apparently inside out, because Albus pulled at the sleeves and shook the sweater back the right direction. Scorpius no longer needed Albus to tell him what he was doing rummaging around in the laundry. Scorpius sighed as he moved into the room, crossing his arms as if to protect himself from whatever was coming. "I guess she grabbed the wrong sweater."

Albus turned, staring incredulously. "Are you bloody kidding me?" he asked, shaking the sweater in one clenched fist.

"She was in a hurry," Scorpius said, knowing that wasn't the right answer, but failing to find a better one.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Albus shouted, dropping the sweater back to the floor.

"It's none of your business," Scorpius told him truthfully.

"She's my cousin, and you are my best friend." Albus' eyes grew wide as he stared on, furious.

"And, we are both adults. We don't need your permission or approval."

"My … what the … I'm not saying that!" he sputtered. "Fuck, Scor. I know that, but I would have thought you would have told me if you were seeing each other." Scorpius froze, his body tense as he avoided Albus' eyes. "Wait." Albus' voice was bare of emotion now. Scorpius had to resist taking a step back from him. "What exactly is going on between you?" he asked, his gaze locked on Scorpius.

"It's nothing," Scorpius said. Even as the words came out, he knew they were a lie. Dinner with Aimee before another night alone in his hotel room wishing Rose was with him was truly nothing, something done out of responsibility more than anything. This thing with Rose was something entirely different.

"Nothing?" Al thundered. "She is my family! She is not nothing."

"Neither one of us want anything serious right now," Scorpius told him.

"How long?" Albus asked, his voice back to the scary, empty tone.

"About a year." Scorpius had the sense to look ashamed, flushing as he rubbed at his face.

"A year?" It came out near a whisper, but Scorpius heard it reverberate around his ears as loud as drums.

"Yeah," he said, unable to think of anything better to say.

"You're both fucking idiots," Albus insisted as he began to laugh. He strode quickly towards Scorpius and then past him. Scorpius followed him again. "Neither one of you could ever commit to a second date in your life, but shagging for a year? Why the bloody hell not." Albus continued to rant as he made his was for the fireplace.

"What are you doing?" Scorpius asked, as Al reached for the Floo powder.

"Going to tell Rose she's a fucking idiot, too. A bloody year." He shook his head as he tossed the powder into the fireplace.

XXX

The dress shopping took just as long as Rose feared it would. Alice made them try on what felt like every dress in the shop, hoping to find the perfect design that would magically flatter five different bodies. It was rough to say the least. Two hours in, Hannah, Alice's mother, suggested that perhaps they could select different dress styles and have them made in the same color. They had spent the following two hours modeling dresses, the five of them in a row as Ginny, Alice, and Hannah stared appraisingly at them. It was something out of Rose's nightmares.

When it was all done, her dress finally selected, ordered, and measurements complete, Rose had gone home, exhausted. She had gone to work emptying her bag into her dirty clothes hamper, pausing when she reached Scorpius' sweater. Against all rational thought, she brought the sweater to her nose. The scent was a mixture of the clean smell of his sheets and a light hint of his cologne. She sighed softly against the fabric as a lump formed in her throat. She needed to get this sweater out of her flat.

She pulled the sweater away and walked back towards her front door. She left, locking the door behind her as she went, still clutching the sweater. She would give it back to him, pick up her own, and everything would be fine. Once out in the hall where apparition was permitted, Rose turned on the spot, apparating to Scorpius' hallway.

Rose knocked at his front door, hoping he was still home. She could only imagine herself completely losing her mind, wearing the sweater to bed, her arms tucked around her body. It only took a few moments for Scorpius to open the door, smiling out at her. "Back for your sweater?" he asked.

"Yeah," she told him, laughing a bit. "I guess I grabbed yours this morning. She bit her lip anxiously. "Albus saw it. I told him we were working late, and I was cold."

Scorpius sighed at that. "You better come in." He stepped aside, allowing her to move into his flat.

She turned back to him, worry showing plainly on her face as she asked, "what's wrong?"

"Al came by this morning. I didn't realize he had seen you in my sweater." Scorpius was frowning as he watched her closely.

"Did he ask you about it?" she asked hesitantly.

"No. He went for my room and found your sweater on the ground. He said he was going to talk to you."

"We must have left before he got back," Rose told him, not sure if she should be glad or upset to have missed the chance to talk to her cousin. "What did you tell him?"

"The truth. Didn't see much choice. He was really angry, and then when I told him it had been a year he got all weird," Scorpius told her as he remembered.

"How so?"

"Well, he said something about how, well ..." Scorpius trailed off.

"What? What did he say?" Rose asked, irritated that he wouldn't just tell her.

"That we are both fucking idiots."

"Why?" She was surprised by his answer.

"Something about shagging for a year when neither of us have ever been on a second date." Rose watched Scorpius run a hand through his blonde hair as her cheeks tinged pink at the memory of her nose buried in his Weasley sweater.

"That's ridiculous," she said with very little actual conviction.

"Yeah, of course," he agreed, but she couldn't help but think he looked slightly disappointed. Her heart pounded in her ears at the thought. She'd become so used to the way things were, the secrecy and the nothingness of it. If she really considered it, the idea of being with him, of having Scorpius as hers, wasn't such a terrible idea. Really, how would it be much different than what they were already doing? Her stomach flipped as she bit her bottom lip again, pondering this question.

She suddenly had a flash of herself in that stupid dress she had spent hours picking out, Scorpius beside her in his dress robes, and before her brain could stop it, her mouth was running away with the thought. "You could come to the wedding."

"I am going to the wedding," he told her, confusion sliding over his features.

"With me, I mean. You could go with me." She felt her palms itch as she spoke, waiting for him to tell her no, this wasn't how they did things.

Instead, his eyes grew wide as a smile started on his lips. "Yeah. That would be nice." They were silent for a few long moments, both flushed and grinning stupidly, before he spoke again. "You could come to the fundraiser with me next weekend."

"I'm already going to the fundraiser," she teased. Their parents would all be there. It was an event for the Magical Creatures ward that had been added to St. Mungo's. Her mother was still highly involved in the organization, and Draco's father was a donor.

"With me. A date," he insisted, saying the actual word.

"I'd like that," Rose replied. Scorpius closed the distance between them then, three quick steps, and his sweater fell to the ground as her arms moved around him, returning his kiss with fervor.

* * *

 **A/N: Follow this story collection for more Scorose one shots in the future. Let me know what you think.**

 **XOXO**

 **Meg**


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